Rating: 
Summary: Advice caution to readers
Review: My comments on Mr.Ed Vishwanathan's book "Am I a Hindu?" I personally appreciate the "father-son dialogue" type presentation style to convey ideas. Mr. Viswanathan has strongly come out against practices like Sati, Human Sacrifice, Un- touchability, etc.. However Mr. Viswanathan has put too many things into the "Hindu plate", even those, which has no reference to Hinduism as a faith, (Artha Sashtra, Kama Sutra, Indian music/dance, ..) effectively failing to establish the scriptural authority of Vedas and Upanishads. He has gone into depth to explain the "stories" in Ramayana, Mahabaratha, Gita as if they were true doctrinal basis of the Hindu faith. Although many verses are quotes, hardly any references are given. Sometimes incomplete or wrong references are made. E.g.: "Rig Veda says 'God or truth is one, only men describe it in different way'" (P 209). I could not find it in the Rig Veda.... "The Rig Veda (6: 28) reads "Cows are God; they seem to me to be Indra, the God of heaven" (P 227). Incomplete reference!!. Readers can read Rig Veda, Chapter 6, Hymn 28, Verse 5 in its context to check for themselves if "Cows are God" is mentioned or even implied. Since all quotes/verses are not backed up by references, reader is not sure if they have any scriptural basis at all. E.g.: "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" may be a nice thing to say, we can even say that Gandhiji said it, but it has no scriptural basis and hence must be considered as just a nice statement. Mr. Viswanathan is sadly encouraging ignorance of the true Hindu scriptures by making statements like: "Because we do not know most of the scriptures does not mean that we are ignorant of the ideas and codes of Hinduism" (P 62) "Anyone who sincerely seeks the absolute truth will finally realize the absolute truth, even if he/she is totally ignorant of the Vedas and Upanishads" (P 310) Mr. Viswanathan propagates his personal views like he is an authority on what people should believe. E.g. : "Even thought God is timeless and formless, there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong in worshipping him with form" (P 205) referring to idol worship. Dealing with sin in a POSITIVE manner (P 287) "God has given us free will, so that we can DECIDE WHEN to reach God" (P 288) Most important flaw in the book, which MUST BE CRITICIZED is the comparison made with Christianity. (Comparisons are made with Islam, Zen,,, too, but I don't know them well enough to comment). Although I appreciate the sprit with which Mr. Viswanathan is trying to explain the closeness of other religions and bring about amity between religious groups, he is totally misleading readers by wrongly representing Christianity. As a Christian, I am mentioning below, a few of such misrepresentations: "Without the aid of Hinduism, one may even come to an erroneous conclusions when one tries to explain the sayings of Christ" (P 91) "Of course, he is an avatar like..." (P 109) referring to Christ. "According to Hinduism, Christ died on the cross to take care of the Karmic debt of all the apostles and all the devotees around him. Hindus do not believe that Christ took care of the Karmic debt of all of humanity" (P 154) "The word AUM, Christian "Amen" and Mohammedan "Amin" all represent one and the same" (P 157) Trinity aspect in Christianity compared with multiple gods in Hinduism (P 209) Explaining women's dot (pottu) on the forehead with Matthew 6:22 (P 229) "References to the flesh of Christ and blood of Christ during the last supper shows that human sacrifices were prevalent even during the time of Christ...." (P 216) "When Jesus Christ was dragging the cross to the place of his crucifixion, a leper happened to touch him and Christ said "Virtue has gone out of me...." (P 242) There is no such incident mentioned in the crucifixion event of Christ. Readers are advices caution while reading this well compiled bundle of confusion. It's high time Mr. Viswanathan released a second edition of his book with corrections.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for beginners!
Review: I mean,if u are a person who wants to know what Hinduism is,this book is not usefull. author talks a lot of not pre defined terms the good part is answers to his son(?) very breifly.Iam a Hindu,even i realise that i knew nothing about hinduism before reading his book very informative not illustrative!
Rating: 
Summary: am I a Hindu?
Review: A very informative and decent book to get perfect knowledge about hinduis
Rating:
Summary: THE MUST READ BOOK FOR ANYONE WHO IS SEARCH OF TRUTH
Review: Reading Hindu philosophical books is my hobby and I never ever read a book like this. This may be the only book in the market discussing about Hinduism as the culture of India not as an organized religion. This book is very very simple without too many Sanskrit words and it can be even read by a 12 year old. It deals with almost all aspects of Hinduism. It is in a Question and Answer fomat between a father and son and as such it is spelbounding. Book is filled with very descriptive flow charts on "end of the world"; "caste system", "world religions"; "Hindu scriptures"; etc and I for one will highly recommend this book for every one on earth. I did not see any kind of bias in this book like the "reader from Calcutta" is talking about.. In the chapter Untochables [page-250], author describes caste system as a "curse on Hinduism" and quotes a great Indian Untouchable leader Ambedkar who said: "To the untouchables, Hinduism is a veritable chamber of horrors" . There is no cover up of animal sacrifice in Hinduism in this book. On the contarary, this book discusses about animal sacrifice in the chapter "The Cow & Hindus". I am amazed to see this book even subjects such as Tantra, Kama Sutra and erotic sex, which Hindu authors normally do not discuss in their books. Surprisingly, book repeatedly states that "Hinduism has no monopoly on Truth & God" and at the end ask the reader even to read books such as Holy Bible & Holy Koran in their search after truth. So I highly recommend this book for anyone out there who is in search of truth.
Rating:
Summary: The very best Hinduism book THE VERY BEST BOOK IN HINDUISM
Review: I have been a voracious reader of books on Hinduism since child hood and I never ever saw a book like this. This is the most lively, compelling and informative book on hinduism that I have ever read. This book is filled with many great flow charts simplify different aspects of Hinduism such as WORLD RELIGIONS, HINDU SECTS, HINDU GODS, HINDU SCRIPTURES, END OF THE WORLD I have no idea what the 'reader from calcutta" is talking about, unless his idea is to put down a great book like this so that nobody will read and understand the ancient, intriguing & thought provoking Hindu culture. The author of this book has taken extreme measures to discuss every minute detail of the complex culture of India in very simple language. There is absolutely no mix up of metaphysics and mythology in this book. Nor is there any dogma or demagoguery. In fact, 90 chapters [ in questions and answers format between a 14 year old american born Indian teenager and his middle aged father] are laid out in a very systematic manner staring with SHRUTI literature like VEDAS, UPANISHADS and ending with PURANAS and ITHIHASAS. Believe me, I never read a book on Hindusim in which the author discussed Charvaka's material philosophy or Hindu dances or Hindu carnatic music. This book even deals with subjects like KAMA SUTRA, TANTRISM and DEVADASI. Normally Hindu authors shy away from discussing such erotic subjects. The author never downplayed negative aspects of the caste system. Instead he called the CASTE SYSTEM, the greatest curse on Hinduism [page -250]. The book even quotes Ambedkar, who said: " To the untouchables, Hinduism is a veritable chamber of horrors." No wonder copies of this book is sought after by millions of people all over the globe. This book is the 5th most popular book on Amazon's list of general books on Hinduism. At the end of the book, the author states that Hinduism has NO monopoly on God and truth. Instead, the author asks every one to study other religious scriptures of the world like the Holy Bible and the Holy Koran. It is very clear that the author's intention in writing this book is to educate every one about Hinduism and not cover up any evils in Hindu society. The Hindu Times, Nepal calls this book a valuable contribution to the world of religion. The Hindu, Madras wrote in its review "...the need of the hour not only for those overseas but even here in India." Book list magazine wrote: "...A much needed primer to a major religion." I hope and pray every one who is in search of truth will read this book.
Rating:
Summary: fair, but hard to reference information, tedious format
Review: We are using this book in an Eastern Religions class. The "Daddy can I ask you a question" format gets tiresome very quickly. A lot of new-age stuff that isn't Hinduism is included, as well as pop-science theorys. Hinduism suffers many of the same shortcomings as other religions. I'd rather see a less biased source, than a father clearly trying to convince an impressionable child "yes, absolutely you are a Hindu". If I wanted to know whether or not Hinduism was for me, I wouldn't choose this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: An excellent read for anybody interested in the religious life of India
Rating:
Summary: Decent Information But Too Slanted
Review: This is an excellent book if you nothing whatsoever about Hinduism, but the book suffers from several faults. For one thing, the author's sense of prudishness as well as his lack of emphasis on the metaphysics of Hinduism makes our religion come out sounding silly. While he takes pains to differentiate between mythology and the deeper religious teachings, at times he seems to favour the mythology; for example when he asserts that in the first yuga of a kalpa, children are born without their parents having to resort to sexual intercourse, or when he speculates that perhaps Hitler's misuse of a Hindu symbol may have resulted in his downfall. Also, Ed tends to downplay the more negative features of Hinduism, such as the caste system and animal sacrifice. The problem is that many Hindus here in Calcutta DO sacrifice animals. Near Calicut, there is a temple honouring those who have committed Sati, which Chitra banerjee Devakaruni wrote a poem about in her "Black Candle" anthology. Prabhupada is a gleaming example of narrow-mindedness, rather than tolerance and the caste system is by no means dead in India. he says that Hinduism never had a "housecleaning" like other religions but fails to say exactly what could be done to "clean it up". he falls prey to a problem that Tagore noticed in a conversation with H.G. Wells, namely that there is too much religious tolerance in India -- so much so that any sort of injustice can be perpetrated in the name of religion without anyone thinking twice about it. For those interested in a deeper and more telling book, read "The Hindu Sound" by Corbett.
Rating: 
Summary: Superlative introduction for those outside Hinduism
Review: Easy to read. Moves from one topic to another quickly. Great reference for those outside Hinduism and probably a great reference book for Hindu families. Written in an interesting, conversational style. Covers the history of Hindu thought well (which is a great accomplishment considering how long Hindu history is.) Also, covers "New Age" interests like reincarnation and Karma.
Rating:
Summary: A TRUE TREASURE
Review: Succinct and very readable! Although I was somewhat familiar with Hinduism, this book clarified much of what had seemed paradoxical or contradictory about the Mother of world religions. This book is a must read for anyone who is seeking Truth (God's Wisdom). One cannot know anything about 'their' own religion is they do not first understand it's syncretism or it's origins. However, the challenge for the reader is to read with an open-mind, eyes to discern the similarities, and a heart that is not hardened by superstitution, prejudice, or blind obedience. Or is the words of Herbert Spencer, "There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-that principle is contempt prior to investigation."
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